AGENDA #4e
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Ordinance Authorizing Securing of a House and Clearing Property at 7 Woodhaven Road
DATE: April 28, 2003
The attached ordinance would authorize securing a vacant house and clearing debris at 7 Woodhaven Road, which has been determined to be dilapidated and unfit for human habitation. Under the Town’s Minimum Housing Code, if the Ordinance is enacted, the Manager would proceed to have the house secured and the property cleared of debris, and the cost would be recorded as a lien on the property.
We also recommend enactment of the attached budget ordinance which would allocate $4,000 from the Council’s contingency account which would provide funds to allow the Manager to have the house secured and the property cleared of debris.
In addition to providing funding to secure this house, the attached budget ordinance would also formally appropriate funds for two purposes already approved by the Council by resolution. On April 14, the Council adopted resolutions allocating contingency funding of $1,000 for a regional landfill study sponsored by the Triangle J Council of Governments and $12,000 for the James Taylor Recognition event sponsored by the Chapel Hill Museum. Use of contingency funding requires a formal budget ordinance amendment to properly account for these funds. The attached budget ordinance would include the formal appropriations of $1,000 and $12,000 for these purposes.
DISCUSSION
The attached photographs illustrate the present condition of this deteriorated structure at 7 Woodhaven Road. The house has suffered from neglect since 1987 and the elements have damaged most of the main structure. All of the items that were left in the yard by the owner have deteriorated. We removed four abandoned vehicles from the property last spring.
Over the last several years, the staff of the Inspections Department has been working with the owner, his son, and a friend in an effort to have this house repaired and the debris removed. Those efforts have not been successful.
The Inspections Department has taken the procedural steps necessary before bringing forward the attached ordinance. These steps include inspecting the property; sending a notice to the owner requesting compliance; notifying the owner of a hearing set to make a determination as to the condition of the property; approving extensions of the deadlines for compliance, conducting the hearing; and notifying, the owner of the determination that the inspector made as a result of that hearing.
Written notification to the owner has included:
1. A written Notice, dated April 17, 2001, requesting that work be initiated to eliminate the public health and safety threat at this location.
2. A Final Written Notice dated December 4, 2001, informing the owner that the structure remains a threat to public health and safety, and to repair or remove the house and vehicles and remove the debris.
3. A written Notice of Hearing, dated January 23, 2002, scheduling an appointment for the owner to represent the property.
4. An Order, including Findings of Fact, dated February 13, 2002, determining that the house is deteriorated and directing that it be repaired or removed and demolished by March 14, 2002.
If the Council enacts the attached ordinance, before proceeding with the correction of the threat to public health and safety, we would notify the owner again.
RECOMMENDATION
We recommend that the Council enact the following:
· An ordinance directing that the Building Inspector have the structure secured and a lien for the cost of debris removal and securing the structure placed on the property, and
· A budget ordinance amendment, transferring $4,000 from Council’s contingency to the Inspections Department’s budget, and formally appropriating contingency funding already approved by the Council for a regional landfill study and the James Taylor event.
AN ORDINANCE DIRECTING THAT THE BUILDING INSPECTOR PROCEED TO EFFECTUATE THE PURPOSE OF CHAPTER 9, ARTICLE 2 OF THE CHAPEL HILL CODE OF ORDINANCES AS THEY APPLY TO THE DILAPIDATED HOUSE AT 7 WOODHAVEN ROAD: TAX MAP NUMBER 7.43.B.7, INCLUDING HAVING THE STRUCTURE SECURED AND A LIEN FOR THE COST OF DEBRIS REMOVAL AND SECURING THE STRUCTURE PLACED ON THE PROPERTY (2003-04-28/O-2a)
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL as follows:
Section 1. Findings.
A. The Council finds, based on the report of the Town Manager dated March 24, 2003, that the Chapel Hill Inspections Department has taken the procedural steps required by Chapter 9 of the Town of Chapel Hill Code of Ordinances with respect to the residential structure at 7 Woodhaven Road, Chapel Hill (TMBL # 7.43.B.7) prior to adoption of this Ordinance.
B. The Council finds that the owner of this dwelling has been given a reasonable opportunity to bring the property into conformity with the Housing Code of the Town of Chapel Hill and has failed to do so.
C. The Council finds that the Inspections Department conducted a hearing for the purposes of determining whether the property at 7 Woodhaven Road is unfit for human habitation and deteriorated.
D. The Council finds that the Inspections Department, as a result of that hearing, determined that the property is deteriorated and unfit for human habitation and in violation of the Town of Chapel Hill Housing Code.
E. The Council finds that the owner has failed to comply with the Order issued by the Inspections Department on February 13, 2002, to have the structure repaired or demolished and all debris removed and that the time period established to comply with that order or appeal that Order has expired.
Section 2. Order.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED, pursuant to Section 9-25 (b) of the Chapel Hill Code of Ordinances, that the Chapel Hill Building Inspector shall have the dilapidated residential structure at 7 Woodhaven Road secured and the yard cleared of debris and a lien placed on the property for the cost of the work.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Ordinance be recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds of Orange County indexed in the name of the property owner in the Grantor index.
This the 28th day of April, 2003.
AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND “THE ORDINANCE CONCERNING APPROPRIATIONS AND THE RAISING OF REVENUE FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING JULY 1, 2002” (2002-04-28/O-2b)
BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Budget Ordinance entitled “An Ordinance Concerning Appropriations and the Raising of Revenue for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2002” as duly adopted on July 26, 2002, be and the same is hereby amended as follows:
ARTICLE I
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APPROPRIATIONS |
Current Budget |
Increase |
Decrease |
Revised Budget |
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GENERAL FUND |
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Non-Departmental |
19,579 |
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17,000 |
2,579 |
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Contingency |
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Agency Contributions |
637,203 |
12,000 |
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625,203 |
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Inspections |
727,100 |
4,000 |
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731,100 |
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Mayor/Council |
250,297 |
1,000 |
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251,297 |
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This the 28th day of April, 2003.